Here are the news stories you might find interesting today regarding commercial real estate and business:
Franchisee opens first ColorTyme rent-to-own store Daryck Fuqua has opened his first ColorTyme rent-to-own franchise in Arizona with plans to expand further in the Phoenix area and other states. The 4,800-square-foot store at 3579 W. Northern Ave. is planning a grand opening May 1 and has partnered with Tumbleweed Center for Youth Development in Phoenix as part of the business’ community outreach. View article…
Buyer Picks Off Foreclosed Office Property In one of the first CMBS special servicer foreclosure deals, a Los Angeles-based investor has bought Mercado del Rancho, two class B office buildings totaling 71,200 square feet. ESI Ventures, doing business as Black Canyon Place LLC, acquired Mercado del Rancho in an all-cash transaction from 10301 North 92nd Street Holdings LLC of Washington DC, a corporation controlled by CWCapital Asset Management. CWCapital took back the property in late 2009. It was previously owned by Phoenix-based Orsett Properties Ltd. View article…
Neighbors wary of shopping center in central Glendale Two low-price grocery stores could open their doors soon in central Glendale, but neighbors are stirring up a fight to block one proposed store. Developers already have broken ground on the southwestern corner of 51st and Olive avenues to build a CVS Pharmacy and Walmart Neighborhood Market. The vacant land is to become a shopping center called Olive Marketplace. View article…
Scottsdale pulls out of Discovery Triangle Scottsdale is officially out of an economic development effort originally focused on promoting downtown Phoenix, Arizona State University and south Scottsdale. The Discovery Triangle no longer will include Scottsdale, ASU’s Sky Song high-tech center and Papago Park as one of its corners, but keeps in downtown Phoenix and ASU’s main campus in Tempe, said Marty Shultz, chairman of the effort and a vice president with Pinnacle West Capital Corp. The goal of the group is promote high-wage economic development and high-tech jobs in the focus area. View article…
Sales-tax hike could weigh heavily on Cave Creek retailers Faith Weinberg has conflicting views on a state sales-tax increase that, if passed, would bolster education but deliver a blow to local businesses. A Cave Creek business owner and parent,Weinberg said local businesses are balking at the 1-cent-per-dollar hike that would propel Cave Creek’s sales tax to 10.3 cents per dollar, the highest in Maricopa County. View article…
Senate sinks plan for business tax cuts Senate Republicans drove the final nail Monday into a House-passed package of tax cuts for business. Several members of the GOP caucus said they could not go along with a package to sharply cut corporate income taxes, phase out the state property tax and give other breaks to businesses. The plan, as approved earlier this year by the House, eventually would have slashed state revenues by $950 million a year. View article…
NABE: Economists upbeat about economy Economists are more upbeat about the economy as companies add jobs and increase profits, though a recovery will be slow, according to a national report released Monday. Seventy percent of economists say the national gross domestic product will increase more than 2 percent this year, compared to only 61 percent in January. View article…
Phoenix ranks low on fun cities list Are we having fun yet? Maybe, but not as much fun as folks in New York, Chicago and even Poughkeepsie, N.Y. According to a recent study by Phoenix Business Journal sister publication Portfolio.com, Phoenix ranks 57th out of the nation’s 100 largest cities for fun. Click here for the complete list. View article…
Arizona ranks 3rd for mortgage fraud Long troubled with high rates of identity theft, Phoenix has now moved into the top five markets for mortgage fraud and misrepresentation, according to a report release Monday by Mortgage Asset Research Institute, a LexisNexis service. Florida ranked No. 1 on the 2009 list followed by California, Arizona, Michigan, Maryland, New Jersey, Georgia, Illinois and Virginia. Rhode Island, which ranked No. 1 in 2008, was not included in this year’s ranking because of its small sample size. This was Arizona’s first time in the top five. View article…
‘Arizona Republic’ 100: Unemployment has hit all business sectors The Arizona Republic’s list of the state’s 100 largest employers confirms the recession blew through here like a tornado. Layoffs touched supposedly recession-proof health-care fields, in addition to pummeling retail operations, manufacturing firms, airlines, hotels, transportation and communication providers, home builders and financial and business services. View article…
Q1 CRE Sales: Change in Attitude What a difference a year makes. You hear that a lot around the commercial real estate industry today, especially when it comes to the overall investment sales market. According to new data from New York-based researcher Real Capital Analytics (RCA), sales volume reached $15.4 billion, which is a 50% increase from the first quarter of 2009. More good news: Every property type registered higher volume. View article…
Feel free to contact me regarding any of these stories, the current market, distressed commercial real estate opportunities or your property.